Venue-specific wireless access point location information creation and distribution

ABSTRACT

Crowdsourced information may be used to associate APs with a venue and creating a venue-specific information file based on this association. This can enable the mobile device to download a single venue information file for a venue in which the mobile device may stay for an extended period of time, which may alleviate or eliminate the need to download additional AP location information while at the venue.

BACKGROUND

The position of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, tabletcomputer, personal media player, or other wireless electronic device canbe estimated based on wireless signals transmitted by wireless accesspoints (APs) and received by the mobile device. If the mobile deviceknows the locations of the APs, the mobile device can estimate theposition by using measurements of the wireless signals to calculate thedistance or range between the mobile device and each AP. If the mobiledevice does not have the locations of the APs stored locally, the datacan be requested from a server and downloaded.

For organizational purposes, APs are typically grouped into “tiles”representing geographical regions, often arranged in a predeterminedgrid without consideration of what venues these tiles may cover. Thus,in response to a request for the locations of the APs, a server mayprovide an entire tile, which may include the information of many APsthat are not within a venue at which the mobile device is located.Because mobile devices often have limited memory allocated to APlocation data storage, it can be a drain on power consumption for themobile device at a venue that may overlap a plurality of tiles, becauseit may need to frequently download and re-download tile information asthe mobile device moves between tiles, much of which is inapplicable tothe venue.

SUMMARY

Techniques disclosed herein are directed toward using crowdsourcedinformation to associate APs with a venue and creating a venue-specificinformation file based on this association. This can enable the mobiledevice to download a single venue information file for a venue in whichthe mobile device may stay for an extended period of time, which mayalleviate or eliminate the need to download additional AP locationinformation while at the venue.

An example server for determining and distributing venue-specificwireless access point location data via crowdsourcing, according to thedescription, comprises a communication interface, a memory, and aprocessing unit communicatively coupled with the communication interfaceand the memory. The processing unit is configured to cause the server toreceive, via the communication interface, information from one or moremobile devices indicative of one or more locations of the one or moremobile devices within a venue, and an identity of each of a plurality ofwireless access points detectable by the one or more mobile deviceswhile at the one or more locations within the venue. A threshold numberof the plurality of wireless access points are associated with thevenue, or at least part of the identity of each of the plurality ofwireless access points is the same for all of the plurality of wirelessaccess points. The processing unit is configured to cause the server tocreate a venue information file, based at least in part on theinformation received from the one or more mobile devices, where thevenue information file includes information regarding at least onewireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points. Theprocessing unit is configured to cause the server to send the venueinformation file via the communication interface.

An example mobile device, according to the disclosure, comprises awireless communication interface, a memory, and a processing unitcommunicatively coupled with the wireless communication interface andthe memory. The processing unit is configured to cause the mobile deviceto detect, with the wireless communication interface, a plurality ofwireless access points at a location within a venue, where a thresholdnumber of the plurality of wireless access points are associated withthe venue or at least part of an identity of each of the plurality ofwireless access points is the same for all of the plurality of wirelessaccess points. The processing unit is configured to cause the mobiledevice to, in response to detecting the plurality of wireless accesspoints, send, via the wireless communication interface to a server,information indicative of the identity of at least one of the pluralityof wireless access points, and the location within the venue at whichthe plurality of wireless access points were detected. The processingunit is configured to cause the mobile device to further send, via thewireless communication interface to the server an indication of anidentity of the venue with which the threshold number of the pluralityof wireless access points are associated, or the at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points that is thesame for all of the plurality of wireless access points, or both.

An example method of determining and distributing venue-specificwireless access point location data via crowdsourcing, according to thedisclosure, comprises receiving, via a communication interface,information from one or more mobile devices indicative of one or morelocations of the one or more mobile devices within a venue; and anidentity of each of a plurality of wireless access points detectable bythe one or more mobile devices while at the one or more locations withinthe venue, where a threshold number of the plurality of wireless accesspoints are associated with the venue, or at least part of the identityof each of the plurality of wireless access points is the same for allof the plurality of wireless access points. The method further comprisescreating, with a processing unit, a venue information file, based atleast in part on the information received from the one or more mobiledevices, where the venue information file includes information regardingat least one wireless access point of the plurality of wireless accesspoints. The method further comprises sending the venue information filevia the communication interface.

An example method of providing information for a determination ofvenue-specific wireless access point location data, according to thedisclosure, comprises detecting, with a wireless communicationinterface, a plurality of wireless access points at a location within avenue, where a threshold number of the plurality of wireless accesspoints are associated with the venue, or at least part of an identity ofeach of the plurality of wireless access points is the same for all ofthe plurality of wireless access points. The method further comprises inresponse to detecting the plurality of wireless access points, sending,via the wireless communication interface to a server, informationindicative of the identity of at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points, and the location within the venue at which the pluralityof wireless access points were detected. The method further comprisesfurther sending, via the wireless communication interface to the serveran indication of an identity of the venue with which the thresholdnumber of the plurality of wireless access points are associated, or theat least part of the identity of each of the plurality of wirelessaccess points that is the same for all of the plurality of wirelessaccess points, or both.

An example computer-readable medium, according to the description,includes instructions embedded thereon for causing a computer todetermine and distribute venue-specific wireless access point locationdata via crowdsourcing, the instructions comprising computer code forreceiving information from one or more mobile devices indicative of oneor more locations of the one or more mobile devices within a venue andan identity of each of a plurality of wireless access points detectableby the one or more mobile devices while at the one or more locationswithin the venue, where a threshold number of the plurality of wirelessaccess points are associated with the venue, or at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points is the samefor all of the plurality of wireless access points. The instructionsfurther comprising computer code for creating, with a processing unit, avenue information file, based at least in part on the informationreceived from the one or more mobile devices, where the venueinformation file includes information regarding at least one wirelessaccess point of the plurality of wireless access points. Theinstructions further comprising computer code for sending the venueinformation file via the communication interface.

An example computer-readable medium, according to the description,includes instructions embedded thereon for causing a computer to provideinformation for a determination of venue-specific wireless access pointlocation data, the instructions comprising computer code for detecting aplurality of wireless access points at a location within a venue, wherea threshold number of the plurality of wireless access points areassociated with the venue or at least part of an identity of each of theplurality of wireless access points is the same for all of the pluralityof wireless access points. The instructions further comprising computercode for, in response to detecting the plurality of wireless accesspoints, sending, to a server, information indicative of the identity ofat least one of the plurality of wireless access points, and thelocation within the venue at which the plurality of wireless accesspoints were detected. The instructions further comprising computer codefor further sending, to the server, an indication of an identity of thevenue with which the threshold number of the plurality of wirelessaccess points are associated, or the at least part of the identity ofeach of the plurality of wireless access points that is the same for allof the plurality of wireless access points, or both.

An example apparatus, according to the disclosure, comprises means forreceiving information from one or more mobile devices indicative of oneor more locations of the one or more mobile devices within a venue andan identity of each of a plurality of wireless access points detectableby the one or more mobile devices while at the one or more locationswithin the venue, where a threshold number of the plurality of wirelessaccess points are associated with the venue, or at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points is the samefor all of the plurality of wireless access points. The apparatusfurther comprises means for creating a venue information file, based atleast in part on the information received from the one or more mobiledevices, where the venue information file includes information regardingat least one wireless access point of the plurality of wireless accesspoints. The apparatus further comprises means for sending the venueinformation file.

An example apparatus, according to the disclosure, comprises means fordetecting a plurality of wireless access points at a location within avenue, where a threshold number of the plurality of wireless accesspoints are associated with the venue or at least part of an identity ofeach of the plurality of wireless access points is the same for all ofthe plurality of wireless access points. The apparatus further comprisesmeans for, in response to detecting the plurality of wireless accesspoints, sending, to a server, information indicative of the identity ofat least one of the plurality of wireless access points, and thelocation within the venue at which the plurality of wireless accesspoints were detected. The apparatus further comprises means for furthersending, to the server an indication of an identity of the venue withwhich the threshold number of the plurality of wireless access pointsare associated, or the at least part of the identity of each of theplurality of wireless access points that is the same for all of theplurality of wireless access points, or both.

Items and/or techniques described herein may provide one or more of thefollowing capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned.Techniques can provide for reduced bandwidth and/or memory usage for APlocation information. These techniques may also help prolong the batterylife of mobile devices. These and other advantages and features aredescribed in more detail in conjunction with the text below and attachedfigures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An understanding of the nature and advantages of various embodiments maybe realized by reference to the following figures.

FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a positioning system, accordingto an embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are maps of an example area in which a positioningsystem, such as the positioning system of FIG. 1, may operate.

FIG. 3 is another map of the same area as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and2B, illustrating the geographical coverage area of APs described in avenue information file, according to techniques described herein.

FIG. 4 is a close-up view of a portion of the area shown in FIGS. 2A,2B, and 3, provided to help illustrate how the geographical coveragearea of APs whose location information is contained in the venueinformation file may be established, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are call flow diagrams illustrating the interactionbetween a mobile device and an almanac server 160, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram that illustrates a method ofdetermining and distributing venue-specific wireless access pointlocation data via crowdsourcing, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram that illustrates a method of providinginformation for the determination of venue-specific wireless accesspoint location data, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides embodiment(s) only, and is not intendedto limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the disclosure.Rather, the ensuing description of the embodiment(s) will provide thoseskilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing anembodiment. It is understood that various changes may be made in thefunction and arrangement of elements without departing from the spiritand scope of this disclosure.

A wireless wide area network (WWAN) can utilize mobile telecommunicationcellular network and/or other technology to enable mobile devices suchas mobile phones, tablets, mobile gaming systems, personal mediaplayers, notebook computers, and similar electronic devices to transmitand receive data over a large geographical region. The position of amobile device in such a network can be determined using various means,including satellite positioning system (SPS) data received by the mobiledevice, trilateration for signals received at antennas (e.g., celltowers), and more. The determination of a mobile device has becomeincreasingly important with the use of positioning applications bymobile devices, governmental requirements for tracking mobile devices(e.g., E911), and the like.

One effective means for estimating the position of a mobile device is bydetecting, with the mobile device, wireless signals transmitted bywireless access points (APs). APs may utilize Wi-Fi and/or otherwireless technologies to communicate wirelessly. If the mobile deviceknows the locations of the APs (which, because they are typicallyimmobile, can be cataloged in an almanac and provided, in portions, tothe mobile device), the mobile device can estimate the position by usingmeasurements of the wireless signals to calculate the distance or rangebetween the mobile device and each AP. If the mobile device does nothave the locations of the APs stored locally, the data can be requestedfrom a server and downloaded.

Depending on where a mobile device may be located, there may be many APsin a nearby area. To help organize the data for the APs and reduce thenumber of requests, the APs may be grouped into “tiles” based on theirgeographical location. A tile can represent a certain geographical areain which a plurality of APs is located. (It can be noted that, as usedherein, the terms “tile” and “tile information” may be usedinterchangeably, and may refer both to a geographical region as shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B or information related thereto, including location datafor APs located therein and/or nearby.) The mobile device may requestand download tile information for tiles from the server, rather thandownload data for each AP individually. However, as previously noted andexplained in more detail below, tiles are typically formed by splittinga large geographical area into a grid of smaller geographical regions(or tiles) (e.g., 1 km×1 km) without consideration of what venue (e.g.,zoo, park, museum, stadium, amusement park, university, etc.) is at agiven location. Because of this, a mobile device at a venue that spans aplurality of tiles may need to frequently download and re-download tileinformation as the mobile device crosses from one tile to the next,because there is often a limited amount of memory allocated for APlocation information storage. As such, it can be a drain on powerconsumption for the mobile device (which may need to frequently downloadtiles because of limited memory resources) at a venue that may overlap aplurality of tiles.

Techniques disclosed herein can alleviate these and other issues byutilizing crowdsourcing to associate APs with a venue and creating avenue-specific information file based on this association. Theinformation in this file may comprise information similar to thattypically included in a traditional tile. As such, this venue-specificinformation file may be, in essence, a tile representing a geographicalregion having boundaries at or near the actual geographical boundariesof the venue. The creation of a venue-specific information file canthereby enable a mobile device to download a single file for a venue (inwhich the mobile device may stay for an extended period of time) withoutincurring the problems of downloading and re-downloading traditionaltiles as described above.

FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100,according to one embodiment, which can implement the techniquesdescribed herein. Here, a mobile device 105 and/or other components ofthe positioning system 100 can process measurements and/or other datapoints to determine the position of the mobile device 105. Thepositioning system can include a mobile device 105, satellitepositioning service (SPS) satellites 110, base transceiver station(s)120, mobile network provider 140, access point(s) 130, almanac server(s)160, wireless area network (WAN) 170, and the Internet 150. It should benoted that FIG. 1 provides only a generalized illustration of variouscomponents, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and eachof which may be duplicated as necessary. Specifically, although only onemobile device 105 is illustrated, it will be understood that many mobiledevices (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized inthe positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 mayinclude many antennas 120 and/or a larger or smaller number of APs 130.Connections between illustrated components may include additional(intermediary) components, direct or indirect connections, and/oradditional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged,combined, separated, substituted, and/or omitted, depending on desiredfunctionality. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize manymodifications to the components illustrated.

The antenna 120 is communicatively coupled to the mobile networkprovider 140 (e.g., a cellular network), which may be communicativelycoupled with the Internet 150. The almanac server(s) 160 can also becommunicatively coupled with the Internet 150. Thus, the mobile device105 can communicate information with the almanac server(s) 160, forexample, by accessing the Internet 150 via the antenna 120 using a firstcommunication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because an AP 130and WAN 170 also may be communicatively coupled with the Internet 150,the mobile device 105 may communicate with the almanac server(s) 160using a second communication link 135.

As shown in FIG. 1, there may be a plurality of APs 130, some or all ofwhich may be detected by the mobile device 105. Moreover, as discussedin more detail below, some APs (130-1 and 130-2) may be associated witha venue (as indicated by dashed line 132). Other APs 130-n may not.Although FIG. 1 shows that the mobile device 105 having a communicationlink (the second communication link 135) with only one AP 130-1, otherconfigurations or embodiments may allow for multiple communication linkswith multiple APs 130, in and/or outside of the venue. Additionally oralternatively, the mobile device 105 may establish communication linkswith different APs 130 at different times.

Depending on desired functionality, a location of the mobile device 105can be determined in any of a variety of ways, by the mobile deviceand/or other devices in communication with the mobile device, which maybe situation dependent. In some embodiments, the almanac server(s)and/or other devices (not shown) remote to the mobile device 105, forexample, can be used to implement positioning methods for supporting thepositioning of a mobile device 105, typically referred to as a targetmobile device, target device, or target. These positioning methods maycomprise, for example, measurements by a mobile device of signalstransmitted by SPS satellites 110, antennas 120 belonging to a wirelesscellular network (e.g., the mobile network provider 140), a accesspoints (APs) 130, and the like.

In addition (or as an alternative) to these position-determinationmethods, techniques described herein can utilize one or more almanacservers 160 that receive “crowdsourced” information from one or moremobile devices 105 regarding one or more AP(s) 130 and, in accordancewith techniques described herein, associate one or more AP(s) 130 with avenue. The association of APs with a certain venue can be done usingcrowdsourced information from mobile devices 105 at the venue. Forinstance, while at the venue, a mobile device 105 can send locationinformation (e.g., coordinates and/or venue identification information)to the almanac server(s) 160, along with a cluster of “visible” APs(i.e., APs detected by the mobile device 105 at a given time and/orlocation within the venue) to be tagged as venue-related APs. Thecluster can include, for example, all visible APs (regardless of whetherthey are associated with the venue), all visible APs when a thresholdnumber of the visible APs are already associated with the venue, allvisible APs broadcasting the same or similar Service Set Identifier(SSID) or other identity, and the like. Additional details concerningthis process are provided below.

For its part, the almanac server(s) 160 can gather information from aplurality of mobile devices 105 at the venue and create a venueinformation file that includes the APs 130 identified by the mobiledevices 105 as being associated with the venue. In some embodiments, thealmanac server(s) 160 may wait to add an AP 130 to a venue informationfile until the AP 130 has been identified by a threshold number ofmobile devices 105 and/or by a threshold number of receivedcrowdsourcing information.

The almanac server(s) 160 may determine the venue name and/or physicalboundaries based on map data (received, for example, from the GeographicInformation System (GIS) and/or other databases). In some embodiments,mobile devices may include received signal strength indication (RSSI)and/or round trip propagation time (RTT) measurements for each AP toenable the almanac server(s) 160 to determine whether the AP is locatedat the venue and should be included in the tile. In some embodiments,the mobile device 105 may make this determination.

According to some embodiments, the almanac server(s) 160 can establishthe boundary of the venue using APs. This can be done in a variety ofways. In some embodiments, for example, for each venue tile, the almanacserver(s) 160 can tag APs with information, indicating whether the APsare in-venue APs or boundary APs. An in-venue APs may be determined asan AP near mobile device (e.g., as determined by RSSI and/or RTTmeasurements) with a known location inside the venue. Additionally oralternatively, where an AP is surrounded by indoor APs, then it may bedetermined to be an in-venue AP. An AP that is observed by a mobiledevice with in-venue APs but does not otherwise meet the criteria ofin-venue APs may be determined to be a boundary AP. Where an AP isdetected by a mobile device with only boundary APs (and not in-venueAPs), it may be determined to be an out-of-venue AP. (And thereby may beremoved from a tile by the almanac server(s) 160, if it was includedpreviously therein.) Additionally or alternatively, the almanacserver(s) 160 may determine in-venue and boundary APs, by utilizinglocation information of the APs as provided by mobile devices, inconjunction with a map of the venue. In some instances, the almanacserver(s) 160 may also generate its own map by using APs tagged asin-venue APs. Such a map may be provided to a client, depending ondesired functionality

When entering the venue, the mobile device 105 may request the venueinformation file from the almanac server(s) 160. Where an AP 130 isavailable for data communication and is associated with the venue inwhich it is located, the mobile device 105 may download the venueinformation file via the AP 130. In some embodiments, the mobile device105 may pre-download the venue information file if the mobile device 105determines (e.g., from user input, a navigation application, etc.) itwill be going to the venue. In some embodiments, the almanac server(s)160 and/or previously-downloaded tiles on the mobile device 105 mayindicate where one or more entrances may be for the venue. This can helpthe mobile device 105 to determine when to download the tile for thevenue. For example, embodiments may cause a mobile device to downloadthe tile for the venue when the mobile device is determined to be withina threshold distance of an entrance. Otherwise, the tile for the venuemay not be downloaded. This can prevent the mobile device fromdownloading the tile for the venue in instances in which the mobiledevice passes near the venue but does not enter it. In some embodiments,the almanac server(s) 160 may provide information regarding APs at ornear the entrance of a venue to a mobile device 105. When the mobiledevice 105 detects one or more of these APs, and/or determines is withina threshold distance from one or more of these APs, it may then requestto download the tile for the venue. Where the AP density for a venue islow (resulting in more available memory for AP location information on amobile device 105), the almanac server(s) 160 may send tiles (or similarAP location information) of neighboring locations and may indicate areasin the venue which no AP coverage is available. In some embodiments, themobile device 105 may use this coverage information to automaticallydisable Wi-Fi scans for locationing purposes when in an area identifiedas having no coverage, and Wi-Fi scans on when leaving that area.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are maps of an example area 200 in which a positioningsystem, such as the positioning system 100 of FIG. 1, may operate toprovide AP location information regarding a venue 210 using a grid oftiles.

FIG. 2A illustrates how tiles may be formed by dividing the area 200 bygridlines 220 (for simplicity, labels have been omitted for mostgridlines 220) into several square-shaped tiles 230 (again, forsimplicity, labels have been omitted for most tiles 230), representingregions of the area 200 by which APs (not shown in FIG. 2A) may begrouped. The number of APs in each tile 230 may vary, depending on thesize and/or shape of the tile (which may also vary), AP density and/ordistribution, and the like. In some embodiments, some tiles 230 mayinclude only a few APs, while others have hundreds, thousands, or more.

FIG. 2B is a map, similar to 2A, but with the tiles 240 overlapping thevenue 210 shaded to help illustrate the inefficiencies of tiles inconveying AP location information for a venue, as described earlier. Inparticular, although the total area of the venue 210 in this example isroughly the size of a single tile, it overlaps with the four shadedtiles 240. Thus, when a person enters venue 210 and travels therein, theperson's mobile device may need to download four different tiles from analmanac server to receive AP location information for APs within thevenue 210. Moreover, if the amount of memory allocated on the person'smobile device is less than the amount of memory required to store allfour tiles (e.g., three or fewer, in the example shown in FIG. 2B), thenthe mobile device may need to repeatedly download and re-download tilesas the person travels within the venue. Moreover, because the shadedtiles 240 include AP location information for a large amount of areaoutside the venue 210, it is likely that the downloaded tile informationwill include location information for APs that are not located in ornearby the venue 210. This information, therefore, may not be useful toa mobile device located at the venue 210.

FIG. 3 is another map of the same area 200 as illustrated in FIGS. 2Aand 2B, illustrating the geographical coverage area 310 of APs describedin a venue information file, according to techniques described herein.As with FIGS. 2A and 2B, a positioning system, such as the positioningsystem 100 of FIG. 1, may operate to provide AP location informationregarding a venue 210. Here, however, an almanac server stores APlocation information for APs at (and/or near) the venue 210 in a venueinformation file, rather than in separate tiles (as shown in FIG. 2B).The venue information file can then be sent to mobile devices that enter(or may enter) the venue 210. This enables the mobile devices todownload and store a single venue information file once, rather thandownload and re-download traditional tiles as illustrated in FIGS. 2Aand 2B.

The boundaries of the geographical coverage area 310 of APs whoselocation information is contained in the venue information file mayvary, depending on desired functionality. In some embodiments, asillustrated in FIG. 3, these boundaries may fall entirely outside of theactual boundaries of the venue 210. In some embodiments, theseboundaries may fall on or within boundaries of the venue 210. It will beunderstood, however, that the boundaries of the geographical coveragearea 310 may be dependent on the actual coverage area of the APs, so itmay vary from the boundaries of the venue 210. Ultimately, however, thegeographical coverage area 310 of the APs of the venue information fileis specific to the venue 210.

It can be noted that the venue information and file shown in FIG. 3 canbe utilized in addition or as an alternative to other tile information,such as the grid of tiles shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, or tiles arranged insome other manner. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognizemany variations to the embodiments shown herein. An almanac server (suchas the almanac server(s) 160 of FIG. 1) can create and maintain thevenue information file at keep it in an almanac (or other datastructure), which may contain other AP location (e.g., tile)information. It can further be noted that, although embodimentsdescribed herein describe an almanac server maintaining the venueinformation file, the term “almanac server” is used as a matter ofconvention. Other embodiments may instead employ another server ordevice to create and/or maintain the venue information file.

As previously described, the venue information file can containinformation similar to the information contained in traditional tiles.Such information can include, for example, the location and/orboundaries of the venue 210 and/or coverage area 310, the names and/orlocations of each AP within the coverage area 310, and the like.According to embodiments herein, the almanac server can further gathercrowdsourcing information from mobile devices within the venue 210 tohelp determine which APs may be contained within the venue 210. (Thisprocess is described in more detail below.) When a mobile deviceapproaches, enters, or is predicted to enter the venue 210, the mobiledevice can download the venue information file from the almanac serverto help the mobile device, the almanac server, and/or other devices(e.g., positioning server(s) or other devices that may receivepositioning information from the mobile device), and determinepositioning information of the mobile device, based on the venueinformation file. For example, by measuring its distance from variousAPs within the venue 210, and by determining the known locations each ofthe various APs from the venue information file, a mobile device cancalculate its estimated position within the venue 210.

FIG. 4 is a close-up view 400 of a portion of the area 200 shown inFIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3 near a boundary of the venue 210, provided to helpillustrate how the geographical coverage area 310 (shown in FIG. 3) ofAPs whose location information is contained in the venue informationfile may be established, according to some embodiments. In FIG. 4, thelocations 430 of a few APs are shown by dots at the center of coverageregions 420. (To avoid clutter in FIG. 4, the location 430 and coverageregion 420 of only one AP are labeled.)

To create and maintain the venue information file for the venue 210,crowdsourcing information can be gathered from mobile devices at one ormore locations within the venue 210. These mobile devices may utilize anearlier version of the venue information file, and thus, the venueinformation file may be continuously updated through a process ofgathering information from mobile devices, updating the venueinformation file based on the information, and distributing the updatedvenue information file to mobile devices. (This process is describedbelow in relation to FIGS. 5 and 6.) Additionally or alternatively, itmay be established that the mobile device is at a particular venue byutilizing one or more reliable sources, such as user entry (e.g., theuser enters source and destination in a navigation program), geofencetag names, location server, SSID, information received from anapplication executed by the mobile device, a wireless location beacon,etc.). As discussed in further detail below, if no venue information isknown to the mobile device, the mobile device may still uploadinformation regarding the APs (as well as current location, distanceand/or other measurements of the APs, and/or other information) to aserver, and the server may make the determination whether to associatethe APs with the venue.

According to some embodiments, a mobile device may “tag” APs as beingassociated with the venue 210. That is, while at the venue 210, a mobiledevice can send location information (e.g., coordinates and/or venueidentification information) to an almanac server, along with a clusterof visible APs to be associated with the venue. As described herein, APsthat are “tagged” or “associated with” a venue are identified by amobile device or server as being in or nearby the venue. (As indicatedelsewhere herein, “nearby” may mean that the coverage area of an APoutside the venue may overlap the boundaries of the venue. That is, anAP outside the venue may be detectable by a mobile device within thevenue.) The association of an AP with a venue can be maintained, forexample, in a data field sent to and/or maintained by the server. Insome embodiments, a cluster of visible APs to be tagged with the venuecan include all APs detected by a mobile device when the mobile deviceis at a venue 210, all visible APs when a threshold number of thevisible APs are already tagged as being associated with the venue, allvisible APs broadcasting the same (or similar) SSID (or other identity),and the like.

For instance, if the mobile device is at location 410 within the venue210, the mobile device may send information to the almanac serveridentifying all four visible APs at that location. In such embodiments,the determination of whether the mobile device is within the boundariesof the venue 210 may be made by using established location information(e.g., positioning based on measurements taken from the four (or other)APs, SPS information, etc.), compared with map data regarding theboundaries of the venue 210 (received, for example, from the GeographicInformation System (GIS) and/or other databases). The almanac server canthen tag the four APs as being associated with the venue 210 and includethe location information for these APs in the venue information file forthe venue 210.

In other techniques for associating APs with a venue, map data may notalways be needed. For instance, when a threshold of the visible APs arealready associated with the venue, and others are not, these others maybe associated with the venue as well. In some embodiments, the thresholdmay be a certain number. In some embodiments, the threshold may be apercentage or portion of the total detected APs. In FIG. 4, for example,if three of the four APs detected by the mobile device at location 410are associated with the venue 210, but the fourth is not, the mobiledevice or almanac server may associate the fourth with the venue 210 aswell, if the threshold of APs associated with the venue is three. Insuch embodiments, the mobile device may determine (e.g., using a currentvenue information file) which APs are not associated with the venue 210and send information regarding these APs to the almanac server,prompting the server to associate the APs with the venue. Additionallyor alternatively, the mobile device may send information regarding allof the APs detected at location 410, and the server can determinewhether a threshold number of APs is associated with the venue andwhether to associate any additional detected APs with the venue 210.According to some embodiments, this threshold number may be provided bythe server to the mobile device in conjunction with and/or as a part ofa tile for a venue. Moreover, the threshold number may increase ordecrease with the size of the venue. (Smaller venues may, for example,have a lower threshold number. A very small venue may have a thresholdnumber of a single AP.)

In such embodiments, a comparison of the location of the APs with a mapmay ultimately be performed (by a mobile device and/or an almanacserver) to prevent the boundaries of the coverage area of APs associatedwith the venue from expanding indefinitely. For instance, where athreshold number of APs are associated with the venue, another detectedAP may be provisionally associated with the venue. However, the mobiledevice or almanac server may flag (or indicate by some other means) thatthe location of the AP may need to be further verified. If such is thecase, measurements of the AP may be taken by a mobile device at one ormore known locations to determine the location of the AP. Thisinformation may then be compared with a map to determine whether the APis located within the venue. If so, it can be associated with the venue.If not, it may still be included in the venue information file, but withinformation categorizing the AP as being outside the venue (therebyenabling the mobile device to, for example, exclude the AP whendetermining, at a certain location within the venue 210, whether athreshold number of APs are associated with the venue 210).

As indicated above, techniques for associating APs with a venue mayadditionally or alternatively include determining whether APs have thesame (or similar) SSID or other identifier. For instance, a mobiledevice could detect an AP that has the same SSID as an AP that isassociated with the venue (e.g., as indicated in a current venueinformation file), and then send information to the almanac server thatidentifies the AP as an AP to be associated with the venue. The almanacserver may then associate the AP with the venue. Alternatively, themobile device may send the SSID (or other identifying information) ofAPs detected while the mobile device is at the venue 210, and the servercan determine whether to associate the AP with the venue 210.

In some instances, APs may be associated with a venue when only portionof the SSID (or other identifying information) is the same ascorresponding information for APs already associated with the venue. Forexample, if the SSID for an AP associated with Venue X is“Venue_X_Bldg_A” and the SSID for an AP not yet associated with Venue Xis “Venue_X_Bldg_B,” the mobile device or almanac server can identifythat a portion of the SSIDs for both APs (that is, “Venue_X”) is thesame, and the AP can be associated with the venue. In some embodiments,a threshold number or percentage of characters of the SSIDs (or otheridentifying information) may be used to determine whether they aresimilar enough for the AP not yet associated with the venue to beassociated therewith.

In some embodiments, techniques for associating APs with a venue mayadditionally or alternatively involve determining whether the AP shouldbe associated with a venue based on the SSID of the AP. In the exampleabove, for instance, if the SSID for an AP not yet associated with VenueX is “Venue_X_Bldg_B” the mobile device or almanac server may determineto associate the AP with Venue X based on a comparison of the SSID withthe name of the venue. The venue name and its physical boundaries can bebased on map data, which may be compared with a known location of themobile device at the time the AP was detected.

In addition to providing identifying information of the APs, a mobiledevice can provide measurements pertaining to those AP's to the almanacserver, enabling the almanac server to determine the AP locationinformation for the venue information file. For instance, a particularmobile device at a location 410 within the venue 210 may obtain one ormore measurements pertaining to one or more APs in or near the venue210, and send those measurements to the almanac server(s) 160. Thisinformation can be sent as the measurements are obtained, in batches atcertain scheduled times or time periods, upon receiving a request fromthe almanac server(s) 160, together with the information for venueassociation (described above), etc. In some embodiments, for example, amobile device will collect these measurements automatically whenpossible and consolidate the measurement data. The consolidated datawill then be uploaded at regular time intervals or after certaintriggering events (e.g., upon request by an almanac server, upon exitingthe venue 210, etc.).

Measurements can include a variety of types of measurements. These caninclude, for example, values indicative of signal time of arrival,signal observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), signal strength(e.g., RSSI), RTT, number of APs detected, and/or other signalcharacteristics of one or more APs detected by the mobile device. Insome embodiments, the mobile device 105 can take these measurements atcertain scheduled times or time periods, at random times, in conjunctionwith other functionality (e.g., when the mobile device 105 is scanningfor available Wi-Fi network), where possible (e.g., when the softwareand/or hardware used for scanning becomes available), etc.

Additionally or alternatively, when providing crowdsourced information,the mobile device may send location information, if known (which may beobtained from a Wi-Fi or other WAN, SPS, or the like). Thus, in certainembodiments, a mobile device may send information regarding its location410 (e.g., latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates), along withidentities of APs it detects at that location 410. The mobile device mayfurther include a unique identity of the mobile device in theinformation sent, which can allow the almanac server to determine when asingle mobile device sends multiple sets of data. It can be noted that,when obtaining measurements, a mobile device need not use an AP for datacommunication (that is, the AP may not be used by the mobile device toestablish communication to the Internet or other data communicationnetworks). Instead, a mobile device may simply detect beacons sent by anAP and/or obtain measurements related to the AP.

APs near the boundary but outside the venue 210 may be detected bymobile devices and therefore included in the venue information file andused by mobile devices to determine location within the venue 210. Asshown in FIG. 4, for example, a mobile device at location 410 within thevenue may be within the coverage area of the four APs in FIG. 4. Thatis, a mobile device at location 410 may detect the four APs illustratedin FIG. 4, although one of the AP is outside the boundary of the venue210. By including the coverage area of APs near but outside the venue210, the coverage area of APs whose location information is contained inthe venue information file may extend beyond the boundaries of the venue210, as shown by geographical coverage area 310 in FIG. 3. As indicatedabove, however, APs outside the venue 210 may be characterized as suchin the venue information file to prevent the boundaries of thegeographical coverage area 310 from expanding indefinitely.

According to some embodiments, information provided by a mobile devicemay be verified by an almanac server. For instance, a mobile device mayutilize a venue information file to tag an AP with the venue. The mobiledevice may then send information regarding the AP, including the tag (orother information indicating the AP should be associated with thevenue), to the almanac server. The almanac server may then wait until itreceives information from a threshold number of other mobile devices(and/or the same mobile devices at other times) indicating that the APshould be associated with the venue before associating the AP with thevenue in the venue information file. Some embodiments may impose acertain time limit by which the information from the threshold number ofother mobile devices is to be received before the AP is associated withthe venue. According to some embodiments, the almanac server may employadditional or alternative techniques for filtering out data received bymobile device that may not be accurate (e.g., by removing statisticaloutliers, comparing AP location data with previously-established venueboundaries, independently verifying mobile device location, and thelike).

Depending on desired functionality, the request for and download of thevenue information file by a mobile device may be triggered at differenttimes. For example, some embodiments may trigger the download of thevenue information file when a planned route of travel to or within athreshold distance of the venue is established by the mobile device(e.g., by a navigation application executed by the mobile device). Insome embodiments, the venue information file may be downloaded by amobile device once the mobile device enters or is within a thresholddistance of the venue.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are simplified call flow diagrams illustrating theinteraction between a mobile device and an almanac server 160, accordingto some embodiments. It will be appreciated that the embodiments mayutilize different communication technologies, protocols, formats, etc.to implement the illustrated interactions. Some embodiments may includeadditional or alternative actions. A person of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize many variations.

FIG. 5 is a call flow diagram that illustrates how an almanac server 160can receive crowdsourced information from a mobile device 105. Action510 shows how the almanac server 160 can optionally send a request forcrowdsourced information to the mobile device 105. At action 520, themobile device obtains the crowdsourced information gathering informationassociated with the venue. As indicated above, this may includedetermining an AP to be associated with the venue by determining athreshold number of detected APs are associated with the venue andidentifying an AP that is not yet associated with the venue, and/ordetermining that at least part of the identity (e.g., SSID) of each of aplurality of detected APs is the same. As also indicated above, someembodiments may have the almanac server make the determination ofwhether to associate an AP with a venue. As such, the mobile device maysimply provide crowdsourced information for all detected APs (without adetermination or indication of which APs are or should be associatedwith the venue), and the almanac server can decide which APs toassociate with the venue, if any. Crowdsourced information may furtherinclude measurements taken by the mobile device 105 of the APs, to helpdetermine the location of the APs, as well as identification informationof the mobile device 105, location information of the mobile device 105,and the like.

At action 530 the mobile device provides the crowdsourced information tothe almanac server 160. In the embodiment shown, gathering informationregarding APs to be associated with a venue at action 520 may betriggered by the (optional) request for crowdsourced information ataction 510. However, other embodiments may obtain information withoutsuch a request. In some embodiments, for example, a request forcrowdsourced information at action 510 may cause the mobile device 105to provide crowdsourced information at action 530 based onpreviously-obtained measurements. In some embodiments, as notedpreviously, the mobile device 105 may gather the information at action520 without any request from the almanac server 160. As noted above,some embodiments may obtain information regarding APs (e.g., informationfor association with a venue and/or measurements) and/or providecrowdsourced information periodically, based on a schedule, and/or basedon other triggers. As indicated above, measurements and/or otherinformation obtained by the mobile device 105 may be consolidated andprovided in the crowdsourced information.

FIG. 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating an embodiment for downloadingthe venue information file to the mobile device 105 from the almanacserver 160, in which the almanac server 160 determines the venueinformation file to download. Here, the mobile device 105 may be thesame or a different mobile device than the mobile device 105 of FIG. 5.

At action 610 of FIG. 6, the mobile device 105 requests the venueinformation file from the almanac server 160. As indicated previously,this can be triggered by any of a variety of events, determining aplanned route of travel using an application executed by the mobiledevice 105, entering or coming in close proximity to the venue, and soforth. In some embodiments, the request may not be an explicit requestfor the venue information file, but instead an indication of a currentlocation or planned route of travel.

At action 620 the venue information file is provided to the mobiledevice 105 by the almanac server 160. Here, if the request is not anexplicit request for the venue information file, the almanac server maydetermine from a received current location or planned route of travel ofthe mobile device that the mobile device is or will be located in aparticular venue. The almanac server 160 may then identify thecorresponding venue information file for the venue and provide it to themobile device 105.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram that illustrates a method 700 ofdetermining and distributing venue-specific wireless access pointlocation data via crowdsourcing, according to one embodiment. One ormore blocks of the method 700 can be performed by a server, such as thealmanac server(s) 160 of FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, for example. Particularmeans for performing the illustrated blocks can be performed by hardwareand/or software components of a computer system, such as the examplecomputer system illustrated in FIG. 10 and described in further detailbelow. Additionally, as with other figures provided herein, FIG. 7 isprovided as an example. Other embodiments of the invention may performsimilar methods in different manners, by, for example, adding, omitting,combining, separating, rearranging, and/or otherwise altering the blocksillustrated in FIG. 7. A person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize many variations.

The functionality at block 710 comprises receiving information from oneor more mobile devices indicative of one or more locations of the one ormore mobile devices within a venue; and an identity of each of theplurality of wireless access points, detectable by the one or moremobile devices while at the one or more locations within the venue,wherein a threshold number of the plurality of wireless access pointsare associated with the venue, or at least part of the identity of eachof the plurality of wireless access points is the same for all of theplurality of wireless access points. As indicated previously, suchinformation (location of the mobile device within a venue and accesspoints detectable at the location) can inform a decision whether toassociate certain access points with the venue. In particular, asdescribed above, a where a threshold number of a plurality of detectedaccess points are associated with the venue, the remaining detectedaccess points may also be associated with the venue.

Some embodiments may vary from this basic functionality. For example,because wireless access points may be detected by a mobile device as faras a mile away or more, some embodiments may filter out remote wirelessaccess points (e.g., wireless access points beyond the thresholddistance) by determining a distance of the wireless access points.Embodiments may utilize, for example, RSSI and/or RTT measurements todetermine a distance of the wireless access points. If the determineddistance of the wireless access point is beyond a particular threshold(e.g., where an RSSI measurement is below certain RSSI threshold valueand/or an RTT measurement is above a certain RTT threshold value), thewireless access point will be ignored by the mobile device. That is,information regarding the wireless access point will not be provided bythe mobile device to the server.

Other information, such as measurement and/or other data indicative ofthe location of the access points, may also be received from mobiledevices as crowdsourced information. As previously noted, where thevenue is known to the mobile device, the mobile device may also identifythe venue to the server (e.g., by sending information indicative of theidentity of the server). A determination of whether the venue is “known”to the mobile device may be made based on whether or not a particularsource was used to determine the venue, and/or a calculation ofcertainty that may weight several different factors (e.g., informationsource types, certainty of current location, duration and/or locationwithin the venue, and the like), Additionally or alternatively, where aportion of the identity (e.g., SSID) of each of the access points isdetermined to be the same, any access points not associated with thevenue can be.

Other features may be implemented, depending on desired functionality.For example, some embodiments may cause the server to identify the venueby comparing the one or more locations of the one or more mobile deviceswithin the venue to a map. Some embodiments may cause the server toextract, from the information from the one or more mobile devices, anidentity of the venue. (As discussed above, this identity may be foundin the SSID of the access point.)

Means for performing the functionality of block 710 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 1010, storage device(s) 1025, workingmemory 1035, and/or communications subsystem 1030, as shown in FIG. 10and described in further detail below. For example, the processingunit(s) 1010 can be configured to cause information received via thecommunications subsystem 1030 from one or more mobile devices to berouted to and/or stored in storage device(s) 1025 and/or working memory1035.

The functionality at block 720 comprises creating a venue informationfile, based at least in part on the information received from the one ormore mobile devices, wherein the venue information file includesinformation regarding at least one wireless access point of theplurality of wireless access points. Here, as a result of receiving theinformation obtained at block 710, a venue information file may becreated to reflect this information. Accordingly, such “creation” inblock 720 can include not only creating a new venue information file,but also updating an earlier version of the venue information file.

Again, other features may be implemented, depending on desiredfunctionality. For instance, the information received from the one ormore mobile devices may be indicative of a location of at least one ofthe plurality of wireless access points. In such instances, the creationof the venue information file associated with the venue may be based atleast in part on a comparison of the location of the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points with a map of the venue.Additionally or alternatively, as indicated in embodiments describedabove, the threshold number of the plurality of wireless access pointsmay be associated with the venue and categorized as being located withinthe venue. The method 700 may then include determining the location ofthe at least one of the plurality of wireless access points to beoutside of the venue and, in response to determining the location of theat least one of the plurality of wireless access points to be outside aboundary of the venue, categorizing the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points as being located outside of the venue.Nonetheless, the venue information file may include informationregarding the at least one of the plurality of wireless access points,but with an indication that the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points is categorized as being located outside of thevenue. In some embodiments, determining the location of the at least oneof the plurality of wireless access points to be outside of the venuemay further comprise determining a distance the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points. This can, for instance, facilitatea determination of the location of the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points.

Means for performing the functionality of block 720 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 1010, storage device(s) 1025, workingmemory 1035, and/or application(s) 1045, as shown in FIG. 10 anddescribed in further detail below. For example, the processing unit(s)1010 can be configured to create the venue information file by executingan algorithm in accordance with an application 1045 in working memory1035. Results may be stored in storage device(s) 1025.

At block 730, the venue information file is sent. As noted previously,because gathering crowdsourced information from mobile devices can beindependent of the process of distributing the venue information file,the venue information file may be sent to one or more mobile devicesthat may be different from the mobile devices from which the informationat block 710 is received. The functionality at block 730 may betriggered by a request from the mobile device for the venue informationfile, and the venue information file can be sent to that requestingmobile device.

Means for performing the functionality of block 730 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 1010, storage device(s) 1025, workingmemory 1035, and/or communications subsystem 1030, as shown in FIG. 10and described in further detail below. For example, the processingunit(s) 1010 can be configured to cause the venue information file to besent via the communications subsystem 1030 to a mobile device.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram that illustrates a method 800 ofproviding information for the determination of venue-specific wirelessaccess point location data, according to one embodiment. One or moreblocks of the method 800 can be performed by a mobile device, such asthe mobile device 105 of FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, for example. Particularmeans for performing the illustrated blocks can be performed by hardwareand/or software components of a mobile device 105, such as thecomponents illustrated in FIG. 9 and described in further detail below.Additionally, as with other figures provided herein, FIG. 8 is providedas an example. Other embodiments of the invention may perform similarmethods in different manners, by, for example, adding, omitting,combining, separating, rearranging, and/or otherwise altering the blocksillustrated in FIG. 8. A person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize many variations.

The functionality at block 810 comprises determining the location withinthe venue of a mobile device. As noted previously with regard to FIG. 1,the location of the mobile device within a venue can be establishedusing any of a variety of techniques, including satellite positioning,trilateration of antenna signals, and more. Means for performing thefunctionality of block 820 may comprise, for example, the processingunit(s) 910, memory 960, SPS receiver 980 and antenna 982, wirelesscommunication interface 930 and/or antenna 932, as shown in FIG. 9 anddescribed in further detail below.

The functionality at block 820 comprises detecting a plurality ofwireless access points at the location within the venue, wherein athreshold number of the plurality of wireless access points areassociated with the venue, or at least part of the identity of each ofthe plurality of wireless access points is the same for all of theplurality of wireless access points. Here, the a mobile device maydetermine which of the plurality of wireless access points areassociated with the venue through the use of a venue information file asdescribed herein. Thus, in some embodiments, a mobile device canimplement the functionality of block 820 without further communicationwith a server to determine which wireless access points are associatedwith the venue. Additionally or alternatively, the mobile device candetermine whether at least part of the identity of each of the pluralityof wireless access points is the same, prior to sending any informationto a server. As indicated previously, determining that at least part ofthe identity of each of the plurality of wireless access points is thesame can comprise comparing a threshold number of characters of theSSIDs of the various wireless access points. In some embodiments, alocation of the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointsmay be determined and included in information provided to a server. Insome embodiments, the determination of the location may be made usingRSSI measurements, RTT measurements, or both. In some embodiments, RSSImeasurements, or RTT measurements, or both may be provided to theserver, along with a location of the mobile device, enabling the theserver to determine the location of the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points.

Means for performing the functionality of block 820 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 910, memory 960, wireless communicationinterface 930 and/or antenna 932, as shown in FIG. 9 and described infurther detail below. For example, the processing unit(s) 910 can beconfigured to cause the via the wireless communication interface 930 todetect the plurality of wireless access points.

At block 830, the method includes sending, in response to detecting theplurality of wireless access points, information indicative of anidentity of at least one of the plurality of wireless access points, andthe location within the venue at which the plurality of wireless accesspoints were detected. As described previously, crowdsourced informationcan include data utilized to determine whether one or more wirelessaccess points should be associated with the venue, such as RSSI can/orRTT measurements regarding the AP. Here, after detecting the wirelessaccess points as indicated in block 820, the information is provided toa server including the identity of at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points, and a location within the venue where theseaccess points were detected.

Means for performing the functionality of block 830 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 910, memory 960, wireless communicationinterface 930 and/or antenna 932, as shown in FIG. 9 and described infurther detail below. For example, the processing unit(s) 910 can beconfigured to obtain the information in block 830 and cause the wirelesscommunication interface 930 to send it to a server.

At block 840, the method further comprises sending an indication of anidentity of the venue with which the threshold number of the pluralityof wireless access points are associated, the at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points that is thesame for all of the plurality of wireless access points, or both. Here,additional information is provided to a server for associating at leastone wireless access point with the venue, which can correspond with theinformation detected at block 820. For example, if at block 820 thethreshold number of the plurality of wireless access points isassociated with the venue, then the indication of an identity of thevenue can be provided at block 840. Additionally or alternatively, if atblock 820 at least part of the identity of each of the plurality ofwireless access points is the same, then that part of the identity canbe sent at block 840.

Means for performing the functionality of block 840 may comprise, forexample, the processing unit(s) 910, input device(s) 970, and/or memory960 as shown in FIG. 9 and described in further detail below. Forexample, the processing unit(s) 910 can be configured to send theindication of the identity of the venue and/or the at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points as providedat block 840.

As noted previously, information can be sent by the mobile device inresponse to on a variety of triggers, such as when location measurementsare obtained, in batches at certain scheduled times or time periods,upon receiving a request from the almanac server(s) 160, uponestablishing a Wi-Fi data connection, and the like. Accordingly, any orall of the functionality of the blocks shown in FIG. 8 may be performedin response to any such triggers.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a mobile device 105, which can beutilized as described herein above. For example, the mobile device 105can be used in the positioning system 100 of FIG. 1 and/or to providedata or perform other functions as described in relation to FIGS. 5, 6,and 8. It should be noted that FIG. 9 is meant only to provide ageneralized illustration of various components, any or all of which maybe utilized as appropriate. It can be noted that, in some instances,components illustrated by FIG. 9 can be localized to a single physicaldevice and/or distributed among various networked devices, which may bedisposed at different physical locations.

The mobile device 105 is shown comprising hardware elements that can beelectrically coupled via a bus 905 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include aprocessing unit(s) 910 which may comprise without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (suchas digital signal processing (DSP) chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or thelike), and/or other processing structure or means, which can beconfigured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. Asshown in FIG. 9, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 920, dependingon desired functionality. The mobile device 105 also may comprise one ormore input devices 970, which may comprise without limitation one ormore touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches,and/or the like; and one or more output devices 915, which may comprisewithout limitation, one or more displays, light emitting diodes (LEDs),speakers, and/or the like.

The mobile device 105 might also include a wireless communicationinterface 930, which may comprise without limitation a modem, a networkcard, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device,and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an IEEE 802.11 device, anIEEE 802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, cellularcommunication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. The wirelesscommunication interface 930 may permit data (such as crowdsourcedinformation, as described in the embodiments herein) to be communicatedwith a network, wireless access points, other computer systems, and/orany other electronic devices described herein, such as the mobilenetwork provider 140, Internet 150, and/or other networks described inrelation to FIG. 1. The communication can be carried out via one or morewireless communication antenna(s) 932 that send and/or receive wirelesssignals 934.

Depending on desired functionality, the wireless communication interface930 may comprise separate transceivers to communicate with basetransceiver stations (e.g., antenna 120) and other wireless devices andaccess points. As indicated previously with respect to FIG. 1, thesedifferent data networks may comprise various network types.Additionally, a WWAN may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single-Carrier FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMax (IEEE 1002.16), andso on. A CDMA network may implement one or more radio accesstechnologies (RATs) such as cdma2000, Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), and so on.Cdma2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000, and/or IS-856 standards. A TDMAnetwork may implement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. AnOFDMA network may employ LTE, LTE Advanced, and so on. LTE, LTEAdvanced, GSM, and W-CDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. Cdma2000is described in documents from a consortium named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project 2” (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publiclyavailable. A WLAN may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a WPAN may bea Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. Thetechniques described herein may also be used for any combination ofWWAN, WLAN and/or WPAN.

The mobile device 105 can further include sensor(s) 940. Such sensorsmay comprise, without limitation, one or more accelerometer(s),gyroscope(s), camera(s), magnetometer(s), altimeter(s), microphone(s),proximity sensor(s), light sensor(s), and the like. Some or all of thesensor(s) 940 can be utilized, among other things, for dead reckoningand/or other positioning methods. Such positioning methods may be usedto determine a location of the mobile device 105, which can be providedas part of the crowdsourced information detailed herein.

Embodiments of the mobile device may also include an SPS receiver 980capable of receiving signals 984 from one or more SPS satellites (suchas SPS satellites 110, of FIG. 1) using an SPS antenna 982. Suchpositioning can be utilized to complement and/or incorporate thetechniques described herein. The SPS receiver 980 can extract a positionof the mobile device, using conventional techniques, from SPS SVs of anSPS system, such as GNSS (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS)),Galileo, GLONASS, Compass, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) overJapan, Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) over India,Beidou over China, and/or the like. Moreover, the SPS receiver 980 canbe used various augmentation systems (e.g., an Satellite BasedAugmentation System (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwiseenabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigationsatellite systems. By way of example but not limitation, an SBAS mayinclude an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information,differential corrections, etc., such as, e.g., Wide Area AugmentationSystem (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service(EGNOS), Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPSAided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigationsystem (GAGAN), and/or the like. Thus, as used herein an SPS may includeany combination of one or more global and/or regional navigationsatellite systems and/or augmentation systems, and SPS signals mayinclude SPS, SPS-like, and/or other signals associated with such one ormore SPS.

The mobile device 105 may further include and/or be in communicationwith a memory 960. The memory 960 may comprise, without limitation,local and/or network accessible storage, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devicesmay be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like.

The memory 960 of the mobile device 105 also can comprise softwareelements (not shown), including an operating system, device drivers,executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or more applicationprograms, which may comprise computer programs provided by variousembodiments, and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/orconfigure systems, provided by other embodiments, as described herein.Merely by way of example, one or more procedures described with respectto the functionality discussed above might be implemented as code and/orinstructions executable by the mobile device 105 (and/or a processingunit within a mobile device 105, and/or another device of a positioningsystem). In an aspect, then, such code and/or instructions can be usedto configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device)to perform one or more operations in accordance with the describedmethods.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a computer system 1000, which maybe incorporated, at least in part, into devices such as the one or morealmanac servers 160 as described in FIGS. 1 and 5-7, and/or a computingdevice incorporated and/or communicatively connected therewith, asdescribed herein. FIG. 10 provides a schematic illustration of oneembodiment of a computer system 1000 that can perform the methodsprovided by various other embodiments, such as the method described inrelation to FIG. 7. It should be noted that FIG. 10 is meant only toprovide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all ofwhich may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 10, therefore, broadlyillustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in arelatively separated or relatively more integrated manner. In addition,it can be noted that components illustrated by FIG. 10 can be localizedto a single device and/or distributed among various networked devices,which may be disposed at different physical locations.

The computer system 1000 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 1005 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may includeprocessing unit(s) 1010, which may comprise without limitation one ormore general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like), and/or other processing structure, whichcan be configured to perform one or more of the methods describedherein, including the methods described in relation to FIGS. 5-7. Thecomputer system 1000 also may comprise one or more input devices 1015,which may comprise without limitation a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, amicrophone, and/or the like; and one or more output devices 1020, whichmay comprise without limitation a display device, a printer, and/or thelike.

The computer system 1000 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1025, which cancomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage,and/or may comprise, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devicesmay be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like.

The computer system 1000 might also include a communications subsystem1030, which may comprise wireless communication technologies managed andcontrolled by a wireless communication interface 1033, as well as wiredtechnologies. As such, the communications subsystem may comprise amodem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communicationdevice, a wireless communication device, and/or a chipset (such as aBluetooth™ device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE 802.15.4 device, aWi-Fi device, a WiMAX device, cellular communication facilities, UWBinterface, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem 1030 mayinclude one or more input and/or output communication interfaces, suchas the wireless communication interface 1033, to permit data to beexchanged with a network, mobile devices (such as the mobile device 105of FIGS. 1, 5, and 6), other computer systems, and/or any otherelectronic devices described herein. Hence, the communications subsystem1030 may be used to receive and send data (e.g., location data, andalmanac, etc.) as described in the embodiments herein.

In many embodiments, the computer system 1000 will further comprise aworking memory 1035, which may comprise a RAM or ROM device, asdescribed above. Software elements, shown as being located within theworking memory 1035, may comprise an operating system 1040, devicedrivers, executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or moreapplications 1045, which may comprise computer programs provided byvarious embodiments, and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/orconfigure systems, provided by other embodiments, as described herein.Software elements may further comprise data, such as venue maps(s) 1050,utilized by applications(s) 1045, which may be retrieved from storagedevice(s) 1025 and/or the communications subsystem 1030 as needed by theapplications(s) 1045. Merely by way of example, one or more proceduresdescribed with respect to the method(s) discussed above, such as themethods described in relation to FIGS. 5-7, might be implemented as codeand/or instructions executable by a computer (and/or a processing unitwithin a computer); in an aspect, then, such code and/or instructionscan be used to configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer (orother device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with thedescribed methods. For example, the computer system 1000 and softwareelements can be used to build and maintain an almanac as describedherein (e.g., a database and/or other data structure that has theapproximate locations of a plurality of APs and/or the approximatecoverage regions of the plurality of APs). These approximate locationsand/or coverage regions can be determined and/or updated using thetechniques described herein. When changes to the almanac are made (e.g.,due to new crowdsourced information obtained using the techniquesdescribed herein), the changes can be propagated to mobile devices viathe Internet and/or other communication networks via, for example, tilesor venue information files.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storagedevice(s) 1025 described above. In some cases, the storage medium mightbe incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 1000.In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from acomputer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as an optical disc),and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storage mediumcan be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purposecomputer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructionsmight take the form of executable code, which is executable by thecomputer system 1000 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 1000 (e.g., using any of a variety of generallyavailable compilers, installation programs, compression/decompressionutilities, etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

With reference to the appended figures, components that may comprisememory may comprise non-transitory machine-readable media. The term“machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” as used herein,refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data thatcauses a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In embodimentsprovided hereinabove, various machine-readable media might be involvedin providing instructions/code to processing units and/or otherdevice(s) for execution. Additionally or alternatively, themachine-readable media might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may takemany forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatilemedia, and transmission media. Common forms of computer-readable mediainclude, for example, magnetic and/or optical media, punchcards,papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, aPROM, EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, acarrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which acomputer can read instructions and/or code.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Variousembodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, features described with respectto certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments.Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in asimilar manner. The various components of the figures provided hereincan be embodied in hardware and/or software. Also, technology evolvesand, thus, many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scopeof the disclosure to those specific examples.

It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of commonusage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements,symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerals, or the like.It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms areto be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merelyconvenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as is apparentfrom the discussion above, it is appreciated that throughout thisSpecification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,”“computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “ascertaining,”“identifying,” “associating,” “measuring,” “performing,” or the likerefer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a specialpurpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computingdevice. In the context of this Specification, therefore, a specialpurpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computingdevice is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typicallyrepresented as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantitieswithin memories, registers, or other information storage devices,transmission devices, or display devices of the special purpose computeror similar special purpose electronic computing device.

Terms, “and” and “or” as used herein, may include a variety of meaningsthat also is expected to depend at least in part upon the context inwhich such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list,such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in theinclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, here used in the exclusivesense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein may be used todescribe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular ormay be used to describe some combination of features, structures, orcharacteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely anillustrative example and claimed subject matter is not limited to thisexample. Furthermore, the term “at least one of” if used to associate alist, such as A, B, or C, can be interpreted to mean any combination ofA, B, and/or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

Having described several embodiments, various modifications, alternativeconstructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from thespirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements may merely bea component of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedenceover or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, anumber of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the aboveelements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does notlimit the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server for determining and distributingvenue-specific wireless access point location data via crowdsourcing,the server comprising: a communication interface; a memory; and aprocessing unit communicatively coupled with the communication interfaceand the memory, the processing unit configured to cause the server to:receive, via the communication interface, information from one or moremobile devices indicative of: one or more locations of the one or moremobile devices within a venue; and an identity of each of a plurality ofwireless access points detectable by the one or more mobile deviceswhile at the one or more locations within the venue, the identity ofeach of the plurality of wireless access points obtained from databroadcast by the respective access point, wherein: a threshold number ofthe plurality of wireless access points are associated with the venue,or at least part of the identity of each of the plurality of wirelessaccess points is the same for all of the plurality of wireless accesspoints; create a venue information file, based at least in part on theinformation received from the one or more mobile devices, wherein thevenue information file indicates a location of at least one wirelessaccess point of the plurality of wireless access points; and send thevenue information file via the communication interface to a receivingmobile device.
 2. The server of claim 1, wherein the informationreceived from the one or more mobile devices is further indicative of alocation of at least one of the plurality of wireless access points, andthe processing unit is configured to cause the server to create thevenue information file based at least in part on a comparison of thelocation of the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointswith a map of the venue.
 3. The server of claim 1, wherein the thresholdnumber of the plurality of wireless access points are associated withthe venue and categorized as being located within the venue, and theprocessing unit is configured to cause the server to: determine thelocation of the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointsto be outside of the venue; in response to determining the location ofthe at least one of the plurality of wireless access points to beoutside a boundary of the venue, categorizing the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points as being located outside of thevenue; and including, in the venue information file, informationregarding the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointscategorizing as being located outside of the venue.
 4. The server ofclaim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured to cause the serverto, as part of determining the location of the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points to be outside of the venue,determine a distance of the at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points from the mobile device.
 5. The server of claim 1, whereinthe processing unit is configured to cause the server to furtherextract, from the information from the one or more mobile devices, anidentity of the venue.
 6. The server of claim 1, wherein the processingunit is configured to cause the server to identify the venue bycomparing the one or more locations of the one or more mobile deviceswithin the venue to a map.
 7. A mobile device comprising: a wirelesscommunication interface; a memory; and a processing unit communicativelycoupled with the wireless communication interface and the memory, theprocessing unit configured to cause the mobile device to: detect, withthe wireless communication interface, a plurality of wireless accesspoints at a location within a venue, wherein: the mobile devicesdetermines a threshold number of the plurality of wireless access pointsare associated with the venue, or at least part of an identity of eachof the plurality of wireless access points is the same for all of theplurality of wireless access points, wherein the identity of each of theplurality of wireless access points is obtained from data broadcast bythe respective access point; in response to detecting the plurality ofwireless access points, send, via the wireless communication interfaceto a server, information indicative of: the identity of at least one ofthe plurality of wireless access points, and the location within thevenue at which the plurality of wireless access points were detected;and further send, via the wireless communication interface to theserver: an indication of an identity of the venue with which thethreshold number of the plurality of wireless access points areassociated, or the at least part of the identity of each of theplurality of wireless access points that is the same for all of theplurality of wireless access points, or both.
 8. The mobile device ofclaim 7, wherein the processing unit is further configured to cause themobile device to determine a location of the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points.
 9. The mobile device of claim 8,wherein the processing unit is configured to cause the mobile device todetermine the location of the at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points using received signal strength indicator (RSSI)measurements, or round trip time (RTT) measurements, or both.
 10. Themobile device of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is furtherconfigured to send, via the wireless communication interface to theserver, information indicative of the determined location.
 11. Themobile device of claim 7, wherein the processing unit is furtherconfigured to cause the mobile device to send, via the wirelesscommunication interface to the server, information indicative of RSSImeasurements, or round trip time RTT measurements, or both, related tothe at least one of the plurality of wireless access points.
 12. Themobile device of claim 7, wherein the processing unit is furtherconfigured to cause the mobile device to send the information: whenlocation measurements are obtained, at a scheduled time or time period,upon receiving a request from the server, or upon establishing a Wi-Fidata connection, or any combination thereof.
 13. The mobile device ofclaim 7, wherein the processing unit is further configured to cause themobile device to, prior to sending the information indicative of theidentity of at least one of the plurality of wireless access points,determine a distance of the at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points.
 14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the processingunit is configured to cause the mobile device to determine the distanceof the at least one of the plurality of wireless access points bydetermining whether an RSSI measurement is below an RSSI thresholdvalue, or an RTT measurement is above an RTT threshold value, or both.15. A method of determining and distributing venue-specific wirelessaccess point location data via crowdsourcing, the method comprising:receiving, via a communication interface, information from one or moremobile devices indicative of: one or more locations of the one or moremobile devices within a venue; and an identity of each of a plurality ofwireless access points detectable by the one or more mobile deviceswhile at the one or more locations within the venue, wherein: athreshold number of the plurality of wireless access points areassociated with the venue, the identity of each of the plurality ofwireless access points obtained from data broadcast by the respectiveaccess point, or at least part of the identity of each of the pluralityof wireless access points is the same for all of the plurality ofwireless access points; creating, with a processing unit, a venueinformation file, based at least in part on the information receivedfrom the one or more mobile devices, wherein the venue information fileindicates a location of at least one wireless access point of theplurality of wireless access points; and sending the venue informationfile via the communication interface to a receiving mobile device. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the information received from the one ormore mobile devices is further indicative of a location of at least oneof the plurality of wireless access points, the method furthercomprising creating the venue information file based at least in part ona comparison of the location of the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points with a map of the venue.
 17. The method of claim15, wherein the threshold number of the plurality of wireless accesspoints are associated with the venue and categorized as being locatedwithin the venue, the method further comprising: determining thelocation of the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointsto be outside of the venue; in response to determining the location ofthe at least one of the plurality of wireless access points to beoutside a boundary of the venue, categorizing the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points as being located outside of thevenue; and including, in the venue information file, informationregarding the at least one of the plurality of wireless access pointscategorizing as being located outside of the venue.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein determining the location of the at least one of theplurality of wireless access points to be outside of the venue comprisesdetermining a distance of the at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points from the mobile device.
 19. The method of claim 15,further comprising extracting, from the information from the one or moremobile devices, an identity of the venue.
 20. The method of claim 15,further comprising identifying the venue by comparing the one or morelocations of the one or more mobile devices within the venue to a map.21. A method of providing information for a determination ofvenue-specific wireless access point location data, the methodcomprising: detecting, with a wireless communication interface, aplurality of wireless access points at a location within a venue,wherein: the mobile devices determines a threshold number of theplurality of wireless access points are associated with the venue, or atleast part of an identity of each of the plurality of wireless accesspoints is the same for all of the plurality of wireless access points,wherein the identity of each of the plurality of wireless access pointsis obtained from data broadcast by the respective access point; inresponse to detecting the plurality of wireless access points, sending,via the wireless communication interface to a server, informationindicative of: the identity of at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points, and the location within the venue at which the pluralityof wireless access points were detected; and further sending, via thewireless communication interface to the server: an indication of anidentity of the venue with which the threshold number of the pluralityof wireless access points are associated, or the at least part of theidentity of each of the plurality of wireless access points that is thesame for all of the plurality of wireless access points, or both. 22.The method of claim 21, further comprising determining a location of theat least one of the plurality of wireless access points.
 23. The methodof claim 22, further comprising determining the location of the at leastone of the plurality of wireless access points using RSSI measurements,or RTT measurements, or both.
 24. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising sending, via the wireless communication interface to theserver, information indicative of the determined location.
 25. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising sending, via the wirelesscommunication interface to the server, information indicative of RSSImeasurements, or round trip time RTT measurements, or both, related tothe at least one of the plurality of wireless access points.
 26. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising sending the information: whenlocation measurements are obtained, at a scheduled time or time period,upon receiving a request from the server, or upon establishing a Wi-Fidata connection, or any combination thereof.
 27. The method of claim 21,further comprising, prior to sending the information indicative of theidentity of at least one of the plurality of wireless access points,determining a distance of the at least one of the plurality of wirelessaccess points.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprisingdetermining the distance of the at least one of the plurality ofwireless access points by determining whether an RSSI measurement isbelow an RSSI threshold value, or an RTT measurement is above an RTTthreshold value, or both.